Education Commons^™

Engaging Students With High-Stakes Problems, Deepak Basyal

Mathematics and Statistics

Engaging students in meaningful mathematics problem-solving is the intention of many education stakeholders around the world. Research suggests that the implementation of high-stakes problems in mathematics teaching is one way to strengthen students’ conceptual understanding. Many carefully crafted open-ended problems constitute high-stakes problems, and proper use of such problems in teaching and learning not only encourages learners’ flexible thinking but also helps detect their misconceptions. However, what is less practiced and understood is: how exactly one should aim to implement such problems in a classroom setting. Teaching pre-service middle school teachers for a few years using high-stakes (mostly open-ended problems) …

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-growth schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire examinations in Math and English Language Arts (ELA) for the 2020-2021 academic year. For these awards, we consider schools where at least 66% of the student body is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL).

High-poverty schools are ranked by school level (Elementary, Middle, or High) based on Overall Growth (Math and ELA combined), as well as for growth in each content area independently. High-poverty schools are also ranked within each region of the state. Tables include the region in which the school is located, the number of …

High-Growth Middle Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights middle schools across the state whose students demonstrated high growth on the Arkansas ACT Aspire exams. The ACT Aspire was administered to students in grades 3 through 10 in April 2022 in Math and ELA courses which include English, Writing, and Reading.

Each table in this section presents the Top 20 schools for the noted subject area and school level. In addition, these tables include the region in which the schools are located, the grades served at the school, the weighted achievement score, and the content growth score in that particular subject.

The level of the schools, …

Applying Expansive Framing To An Integrated Mathematics-Computer Science Unit, Kimberly Evagelatos Beck, Jessica F. Shumway

Publications

In this research report for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2022 Research Conference, we discuss the theory of Expansive Framing and its application to an interdisciplinary mathematics-computer science curricular unit.

Efficient Assessment Of Students’ Proportional Reasoning, Michele Carney, Katie Paulding, Joe Champion

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teachers need ways to efficiently assess students’ cognitive understanding. One promising approach involves easily adapted and administered item types that yield quantitative scores that can be interpreted in terms of whether or not students likely possess key understandings. This study illustrates an approach to analyzing response process validity evidence from item types for assessing two important aspects of proportional reasoning. Data include results from an interview protocol used with 33 middle school students to compare their responses to prototypical item types to their conceptions of composed unit and multiplicative comparison. The findings provide validity evidence in support of the score …

Assessing Teachers’ Pedagogical Practices And Students’ Learning Outcomes In Science And Mathematics Across Primary And Secondary School Level: A Nationwide Study (2018-21), Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-growth schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire examinations in Math and English Language Arts (ELA) for the 2020-2021 academic year. For these awards, we consider schools where at least 66% of the student body is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL).

High-poverty schools are ranked by school level (Elementary, Middle, or High) based on Overall Growth (Math and ELA combined), as well as for growth in each content area independently. High-poverty schools are also ranked within each region of the state. Tables include the region in which the school is located, the number of …

High-Growth Middle Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights middle schools across the state whose students demonstrated high growth on the Arkansas ACT Aspire exams. The ACT Aspire was administered to students in grades 3 through 10 in April 2021 in Math and ELA courses which include English, Writing, and Reading.

Each table in this section presents the Top 20 schools for the noted subject area and school level. In addition, these tables include the region in which the schools are located, the grades served at the school, the weighted achievement score, and the content growth score in that particular subject.

The level of the schools, …

Supporting Teaching And Learning Reform In College Mathematics: Finding Value In Communities Of Practice, Kelly Gomez Johnson, Paula M. Jakopovic, Christine Von Renesse

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Improving college STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) student learning outcomes is an ongoing area of focus in Institutions of Higher Education (IHE). This reform includes challenging, changing, and adapting both teaching practices and the learning environment. Communities of practice (CoPs) can support faculty in making these shifts; however, creating large-scale instructional changes in STEM education requires a more careful look at the existing systems and structures in place. In this paper, we investigate a network of regional CoPs composed mainly of mathematics faculty from IHE focused on teaching with inquiry methods. Understanding what faculty need and value to support their …

Learning Assistantships In College Mathematics: Value For Preservice Teacher Development, Kelly Gomez Johnson, Paula Jakopovic, Janice Rech, Angie Hodge-Zickerman

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Increasing the participation and achievement of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from early grades to college coursework continues to be at the forefront of educational transformations and research. Faculty members at Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) plan, implement, and investigate how program structures might aid in the development, retention, and overall success of undergraduate students in STEM. Active learning classrooms, especially in mathematics, are one way IHE are reforming student learning experiences, and these environments also provide a unique opportunity to engage undergraduate learning assistants with faculty to support near - peer students and deepen their own …

Coaching To Develop Teacher Professional Noticing: Planning With Students And Mathematics In Mind, Paula M. Jakopovic

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Purpose

This paper examines how intentional mathematics coaching practices can develop teacher professional noticing of “ambitious teaching practices” (NCTM, 2020) through connected, collaborative coaching cycles.

Design/methodology/approach

Narrative analysis is used to examine observations of a mathematics coach and novice teacher to better understand the role of the coach in helping teachers attend to ambitious mathematics teaching (AMT) practices.

Findings

The initial findings of this study suggest that intentional use of focused goals, iterative coaching cycles and a gradual release model of coaching can support shifts in noticing of AMT from being led by the coach to being facilitated by the …

Lessons Learned From Creating Videos For Online Video-Based Instructional Modules In Mathematics Teacher Education, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Laurie O. Cavey

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Video can be a powerful tool, with a long history of use in teacher education. Despite the increased popularity of using video in teacher education over the years, questions remain about effective ways to create and use video in online video-based instructional modules. Given this, in this paper we describe some lessons learned creating videos for online video-based instructional modules for secondary mathematics teacher candidates, as a part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) IUSE program (Award No. 1726543) funded project. We specifically focus on how we recorded interviews with middle and high school students, and iteratively developed the online …

Factors Impacting Students’ Perceptions Of Mathematics, Amber Souza

Honors Program Theses and Projects

I want to be able to present math in a positive light to all of my future students, regardless of race, gender, and math background. However, for teachers as a whole to be able to take this important step, they must first develop a deeper understanding of why math is a sore spot for many students.

Impact Of Concept-Based Mathematics Instructional Strategies On Seventh Grade Student Achievement, Katherine Annette Lawley Ellsworth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In a nation with declining enrollment in college math courses, it is important to examine how mathematics is being taught in the K-12 education system and to identify best practices. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact concept-based instructional strategies has on middle school student achievement in mathematics when integrated into the traditional mathematics curriculum. Participants included 424 seventh grade students from two middle schools. Students Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Fall-to-Winter data 2018 prior to implementation was used a covariate and Fall-to-Winter data 2019 data during the implementation of concept-based instructional strategies integrated into the traditional …

Gaining Insight Into The Development Of Mathematics Teacher Leaders In Primary Grades: A Multi-Case Study, Susan Katt

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Teacher leaders have the potential to influence improved instructional practice for mathematics within elementary schools and thereby student performance. Lamentably, an insufficient number of elementary classroom teachers, specifically those who teach kindergarten, first, and second grades, participate actively in a teacher leader role, which positively impacts teaching and learning mathematics. Therefore, an examination of how professional development plays a role in cultivating new teacher leaders proves to be critical.

In this qualitative multi-case study, I examined a structured professional development opportunity for K–2 teachers designed to promote their leadership. All participants were full-time classroom teachers within an urban, Midwestern public …

The Role Of Gender On The Associations Among Children’S Attitudes, Mathematics Knowledge, Digital Game Use, Perceptions Of Affordances, And Achievement, Kristy Litster, Christina W. Lommatsch, Josh R. Novak, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Jill Ashby, Allison L. Roxburgh, Emma P. Bullock

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study explored associations among children’s prior attitudes, prior mathematics knowledge, and frequency of digital game use, with children’s perceptions of game affordances, and transfer to out-of-game performance when interacting with digital math games, with respect to gender. Participants were 187 children (ages 8–12). An SEM mediation path analysis using MPLUS software showed significant direct effects for all pathways for all children, and significant indirect effects on all pathways for male children and five of six pathways for female children. More favorable attitudes, prior math knowledge, and perception of the helping affordances were associated with increased posttest performance, while increased …

Experiencing Active Mathematics Learning: Meeting The Expectations For Teaching And Learning In Mathematics Classrooms, Kristy Litster, Beth L. Macdonald, Jessica F. Shumway

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Active learning mathematics classrooms incorporate meaningful activities that emphasize reasoning, thinking and active interaction with mathematics. Current mathematics standards and curricula recommend that Mathematics Teacher Educators (MTEs) use elements of active learning in their mathematics content courses specifically designed for Prospective Teachers (PTs) as they prepare PTs to learn and teach mathematics. However, it can be very difficult for PTs to shift their pedagogical dispositions towards instruction associated with active learning because they typically have not experienced mathematics taught in this way. This article focuses on two instructional practices for MTEs to use with PTs. First, selecting tasks that promote …

Exploring The Phenomenon Of Distance In Children's Interactions With Touchscreen Digital Mathematics Games, Stephen I. Tucker, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examines the construct of distance – the degree of difficulty of interacting with something – as part of activity involving children using touchscreen digital games to learn mathematics. Ten fifth-grade children engaged in video-recorded semi-structured task-based interviews in which they used two touchscreen digital mathematics games on a touchscreen tablet and responded to semi-structured follow-up questions. Qualitative data analysis was iterative, featuring analytic memoing and eclectic coding techniques to identify themes related to distance. In advanced coding stages, magnitude coding was used to characterize the degree of distance present. Findings provide evidence of the presence of distance, changes …

Characteristics Of Critical Friendship That Transform Professional Identity, Signe E. Kastberg, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

We met at CASTLE 2018, two trained mathematics teacher educators (MTEs), interested in mathematics, and teaching elementary mathematics methods to preservice teachers (PTs). Melva’s self-study research, focused on improving her online methods course, was approaching its second year and her second critical friend had lost interest in continuing. Melva invited Signe to be her critical friend (Schuck & Russell, 2005) and Signe agreed. Explicit expectations of our critical friendship included weekly meetings. Our critical friendship seemed to follow an expected trajectory for, “supporting/coaching the transformation of another’s teaching” (Stolle, et al., 2019, p. 20). However, there were implicit ways our …

Course Portfolio For Math 309: Introduction To Mathematical Proofs - A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Josh Brummer

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In this course portfolio, I examine dimensions of an active learning curriculum developed for a sophomore-level undergraduate course serving as an introduction to mathematical proofs. Prominent course goals include developing effective practices for communicating mathematics using formal language, learning to read, comprehend, and evaluate the validity of mathematical proofs, and practicing to write rigorous and concise mathematical proofs. I explore a new piece of collaborative annotation software called Perusall to help students read and understand mathematics together, and I analyze mastery level grading scales across exams throughout the semester. The portfolio also contains information about the structure and syllabus for …

Elementary School Student Development Of Stem Attitudes And Perceived Learning In A Stem Integrated Robotics Curriculum, Yu-Hui Ching, Dazhi Yang, Sasha Wang, Youngkyun Baek, Steve Swanson, Bhaskar Chittoori

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Robotics has been advocated as an emerging approach to engaging K-12 students in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study examined the impacts of a project-based STEM integrated robotics curriculum on elementary school students’ attitudes toward STEM and perceived learning in an afterschool setting. Three elementary school teachers and 18 fourth to sixth graders participated in an eight-week-long program. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed, and showed students’ attitudes toward math improved significantly at the end of the robotics curriculum. Three specific areas of learning were identified, including STEM content learning and connection, engagement and perseverance, …

An Examination Of The Role Of First-Year College-Level Mathematics In Stem Field Major Persistence At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Jaimi Paschal, Amanda Taggart

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of mathematics course-taking on Latina/o science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major persistence utilizing data from first-year STEM majors at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Findings indicated that students who passed a first-term college-level mathematics course had significantly greater odds of persisting in STEM majors than those who did not, demonstrating the importance of early mathematics support to increased STEM major persistence.

Principles Of Engineering, Edu 4480, Course Outline, Euisuk Sung

Open Educational Resources

This course is a laboratory-based capstone course providing resources about engineering and engineering design methodology to enable the student teacher to study the relationship among mathematics, science and engineering. Focus is on the integration of the content of these disciplines into the secondary school technology curriculum and to stimulate student interest in pursuing engineering and technology careers.

Developing An Explicit Instruction Special Education Teacher Observation Rubric, Evelyn S. Johnson, Yuzhu Zheng, Angela R. Crawford, Laura A. Moylan

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we developed an Explicit Instruction special education teacher observation rubric that details the elements of explicit instruction, and tested its psychometric properties using many-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM). Video observations of classroom instruction from 30 special education teachers across three states were collected. External raters (n = 15) were trained to observe and evaluate instruction using the rubric, and assigned scores of ‘implemented’, ‘partially implemented’ or ‘not implemented’ for each of the items. Analyses showed that the item, teacher, lesson and rater facets achieved high psychometric quality for the instrument. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

District-University Collaborations To Support Reform-Based Mathematics Curriculum Implementation, Kelly Gomez Johnson, Amy L. Nebesniak, Theodore J. Rupnow

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Curriculum change is inevitable in schooling. For content areas such as mathematics that are already under the national spotlight, transitioning to new curriculum materials while concurrently enacting instructional reform creates both a challenge and an opportunity. This paper discusses how partnerships between two state universities and respective neighboring school districts resulted in the creation and implementation of graduate courses for teachers targeted at curricular and instructional reform specific to each district. Common course components between both university-district partnerships were identified in the areas of mathematics research, practice, and leadership advocacy and found to be instrumental in supporting instructional reform and …

Course Portfolio For Math 872: Topology Ii, Alex Zupan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In this course portfolio, I explore tactics for engaging a group of beginning mathematics graduate students taking the second semester of the first-year sequence in topology. Course objectives include computing algebraic invariants of topological spaces, understanding the Galois correspondence between covering spaces and fundamental groups, and using a range of invariants to distinguish spaces. My main instructional tools include a series of three "Activities" tailored to each student, a project involving computing invariants with the program SnapPy and using homology of covering spaces to distinguish 3-dimensional knots, and individual student board work during class periods. The activities served as benchmarks …

Math 314: Linear Algebra-A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Xavier Pérez-Giménez

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

My intention with this portfolio is to present my approach to teaching Math 314. This is a linear algebra course for senior-year undergraduate students in different STEM programs. The course serves as a transition from computational courses, such as calculus, to more theoretical ones, and exposes students, possibly for the first time, to abstract mathematical objects (such as general vector spaces) and simple proofs. Several lecture-based strategies are discussed and evaluated in connection with student learning outcomes. I also present samples of course materials and student work.

Teacher Factors And The Impact On Student Success In Algebra I, Kalee Mcmullen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Algebra I proficiency is an important aspect of a solid foundation in mathematics. Teachers play a critical role in the failure or success of students. Different teacher characteristics are thought to have a significant impact on the potential for student success. This non-experimental correlational research study seeks to examine the potential relationships between specific teacher characteristics and student success in Algebra I as measured by the Algebra I End of Course Exam scores. This study uses ordinary least squares regression analysis to examine the effects of independent variables on successful Algebra I scores. The independent variables in this study include …

Developing A Multi-Dimensional Early Elementary Mathematics Screener And Diagnostic Tool: The Primary Mathematics Assessment, Jonathan L. Brendefur, Evelyn S. Johnson, Keith W. Thiede, Sam Strother, Herbert H. Severson

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is a critical need to identify primary level students experiencing difficulties in mathematics to provide immediate and targeted instruction that remediates their deficits. However, most early math screening instruments focus only on the concept of number, resulting in inadequate and incomplete information for teachers to design intervention efforts. We propose a mathematics assessment that screens and provides diagnostic information in six domains that are important to building a strong foundation in mathematics. This article describes the conceptual framework and psychometric qualities of a web-based assessment tool, the Primary Math Assessment (PMA). The PMA includes a screener to identify students …

Bricklayer: Elementary Students Learn Math Through Programming And Art, Michelle Friend

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

As computer science becomes more prevalent in the K-12 world, elementary schools are increasingly adopting computing curricula. Computer scientists have recognized the connection between math and computer science, but little work has demonstrated how and whether computer science can support improved learning in math. This paper reports on a project in which elementary students in a gifted program used Bricklayer, a functional programming environment that supports artistic and mathematical expression. A pre- and post-test design demonstrates significant learning gains in coordinate graphing and visual-spatial skills.